Philippians 3:1-3

The same old commands – that’s what Paul reiterates to the Philippian believers in this passage. Yet the commands that he issues are anything but unimportant. They are highly important, which is why they bear repeating!

1. Rejoice (v. 1)

2. Beware (v. 1-3)

Soli Deo Gloria

Our AWANA Grand Prix is scheduled for Saturday, February 6, 2010, starting at 3:00 PM in the fellowship hall. Please, join us to watch the children race their cars. It will be loads of excitement. See you there!

I don’t pray in order to get answers. Sometimes I feel like I’m not very spiritual when people talk about prayer and I compare my prayer life to theirs. I will admit that I do not pray as I ought. I need to work on the discipline of prayer. But it seems to me that some people, in their prayer lives, treat God like a genie in a bottle and prayer like rubbing the bottle.
I think that, instead of praying because we know prayer is powerful and because we know God will answer, we ought to pray just because we know God hears us. Pray simply because God is attentive to us. Have you ever been disappointed by God? Have you ever felt like God does not hear your prayers? How would our prayer life be different if we really believed that God really hears?

Selected Scriptures

A pervasive and perennial problem – that’s what sin is. In this message we observe how to properly handle that problem - which is what every believer needs to be doing!

1. We are to ____________ sin

2. We are to ____________ sin

3. We are to ____________ sin

4. We are to ____________ sin

5. We are to ____________ from sin

6. We are to ____________ from sin

Soli Deo Gloria

Philippians 2:25-30

You may never have laid down a bet, yet at some point God may require you to gamble. You may be called upon to gamble your life, like Epaphroditus, one of the great heroes of the New Testament!

1. He was a ____________(v. 25)

2. He was a ____________(v. 25)

3. He was a ____________(v. 25)

4. He was a ____________(v. 25)

5. He was a ____________(v. 25)

6. He was a ____________(v. 26)

7. He was a ____________(v. 27, 30)

Soli Deo Gloria

I think that one of the most misunderstood of the commands of Jesus is this one: Do not judge (Matt. 7:1). You tell me: Is it judgmental to stand outside Joel Osteen’s church and preach against him? Check it out on YouTube. Is it judgmental to speak out against the legalization of gay marriage? To tell a friend that her sexual promiscuity is sinful and destructive? To confront a friend regarding his drinking? The command is clear: do not judge. To judge is God’s responsibility, not mine. If I do judge others, I will be judged. But what does it mean to judge?

Philippians 2:14-16

“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine” – that must be the commitment of every believer in Jesus Christ. As our Lord declared we are to let our light shine before men, and we see this evening exactly how!

1. We are to be a light through our ______________ (v. 14-15)

A. Which means not ____________ (v. 14)

B. Which means not ____________ (v. 14)

2. We are to be a light through our ____________ (v. 16)

Soli Deo Gloria

Of all the stuff I own, my most prized possessions are probably my golf clubs, my car, my yard, and my laptop computer. If my house was on fire and my family and the cat were safely outside, and I still had time to run in once more, I would grab my laptop and the car keys. I would pull the car out of the garage thus saving both the car and my golf clubs which are always in my trunk. (Thinking about this reminds me of a few things I need to put in the fireproof safe!) I’ve got a lot of stuff and, even after saving the most important things, I would still be devastated to lose everything else. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses our attachment to possessions. He issues a prohibition and a command: Do not store up treasure on earth, instead store up treasure in heaven (Matt. 6:19-20). Then He describes the reasons for the prohibition and command:

Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

“There is a basic law that like attracts like. Negative thinking definitely attracts negative results. Conversely if a person habitually thinks optimistically and hopefully his positive thinking sets in motion creative forces, and success instead of alluding him, flows toward him.” So said Norman Vincent Peale, the author of the bestselling book “The Power of Positive Thinking.” Along these same lines the architect Frank Lloyd Wright said, “The thing always happens that you really believe in, and the belief in a thing makes it happen.” And Dr. Joyce Brothers said, “Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.” And Mahatma Gandhi said, “Man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.” And Napoleon Hill, the author of the book “Think And Grow Rich,” has said, “What the mind can conceive and believe the mind can achieve.” Even Willie Nelson, the famous country crooner who’s obviously also somewhat of a philosopher has said, “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones you will start having positive results.”

Now the focus of all of these statements of course is on the power of the mind. And the power of the mind, or the power of positive thinking is something that is repeatedly stressed today. Time and again it is asserted that through your mind you can achieve the impossible, that your mind provides you with limitless potential, limitless possibilities.

Now that of course is not true. However what is true is the message of this well known and well quoted verse.

Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

In the late 1990’s a USA weekend magazine published a cover story entitled “Fear: What Americans Are Afraid of Today.” And according to the results of a scientific poll, which were revealed in this story, it was discovered that among other fears that Americans have: 1. 50% are afraid or very afraid of inadequate social security. 2. 49% are afraid or very afraid of not having enough money for retirement. 3. 32% are afraid or very afraid of being unable to pay current debts. 4. 23% are afraid or very afraid of losing their job. 5. 20% are afraid or very afraid of a stock market crash. This magazine went on to say, “money fears rank high on everyone’s worry list, rich and poor, male and female, north and south.” And to that we may add non-Christian and Christian. Yes, even believers in Jesus Christ have the capacity to be plagued by money fears. And that is especially true in tough economic times.

Yet in spite of the fact that many Christians today have money worries, in truth that is something that they should be absolutely free from, irrespective of the economic climate that they are in. And the reason for this is because of what we find in this exceedingly encouraging verse.